Flash Fictions *Multiple Fandoms*

Echoes (Vampire Academy) *Adrian/OC*

Fandom: Vampire Academy.
Pairing: Adrian Ivashkov/OC (Joey Hatcher).
Side story to "On The Rocks, With A Twist".

They sat on one of the benches in the gardens with their take-out. It had become a regular Friday night thing. Adrian watched in amusement as Joey painstakingly picked out every piece of carrot and pushed them to one side.

"You won't be able to see in the dark if you don't eat your carrots," he tutted.

"Who cares?" Joey mumbled around a mouthful of food. "I'd at least fare better than you. You're normally so desensitized, you can't even see straight."

"That's a pretty big word," Adrian teased. "Besides, hasn't anyone ever told you that ladies don't..."

He trailed off, giving Joey time to swallow her food. "What; you're giving up on making yet another joke about me not being ladylike? You're not going soft on me, are you?" When he still didn't respond, she frowned and nudged him none too gently with her elbow. "Hey, Adrian, I'm talking to you."

Adrian's attention was clearly elsewhere. He was sat, suddenly unusually rigid, staring straight ahead. Joey followed his gaze across the gardens. Another couple were hovering beneath one of the ornate archways, talking quietly and closely amongst themselves. The girl had a mass of dark hair and the guy was tall and lean, his own hair tied back into a ponytail. Joey hadn't noticed them earlier and it was her duty to notice everything, so they must have only just got there. Either way, they definitely seemed to be the centre of Adrian's attention.

"Y'know, if you want a threesome, you need to just go and ask," she joked. "Staring creepily at them isn't going to help."

To her surprise, Adrian abruptly got to his feet, tossing his half eaten take-out aside. "Let's get out of here."

"Huh?" was all Joey was able to say. Stiff and abrupt wasn't really Adrian's style.

"Let me put it this way," Adrian said, still in an oddly forced tone. "I'm going back to my room and, since you're my guardian and have to follow me, you're coming too or you can fail your field training."

With that, he strode off. Joey hastily followed suit, still confused and awkwardly clutching her open food container. "Wait a second... Adrian!"

As she hastened to catch up, she glanced once more over her shoulder at the couple he'd been watching. Maybe they'd heard her shout or maybe they'd just happened to look up at that moment, but they were both looking now. The guy's face was stony and unreadable, but there was no mistaking the girl's expression. Joey could recognise a guilty look anywhere.

With that realisation, everything else clicked into place. This must be the ex girlfriend that had infamously broken Adrian's heart. Joey still didn't know all that much about the situation, other than that she'd cheated on him. She could take a pretty good guess that the guy accompanying her was the one she'd cheated on him with. Adrian's reaction certainly suggested that. She felt a pang of sympathy as she caught up with him. Seeing exes was never fun. Particularly when you had to see them being all loved up with someone else. It didn't take a genius to know that Adrian clearly still had feelings for her.

"You okay?" she asked him hesitantly. She wasn't exactly known for tact.

Adrian shrugged, still striding along at a surprisingly steady pace. They'd already reached the main Court building. "I'm fine. Just echoes from my past."

It was an odd way to put it, but then that was just Adrian. Joey was used to the oddly philosophical and sometimes even poetic tangents that he occasionally went on. It had actually been happening less and less lately, but she could still see when one was rearing its dark head. Moody really didn't suit Adrian. Once upon a time, Joey would have teased him for the mood swing. But that was like echoes of her own past, as he would have put it. They were actually friends now. Sometimes she even felt like it could be more than that.

In an unusually tactile move for her, she caught his swinging hand as she matched his stride. He stiffened only slightly in surprise, but he didn't slow his pace. "Were you just horrifically blind-sided by how godly awful that guy's hair was?" she said lightly. "I mean, what guy has a ponytail in this day and age?"

She wasn't sure if she imagined a hint of a smile cross his face, but she definitely didn't imagine the feel of him squeezing her hand back. "Definitely horrifically blind-sided."